MBoC | ARTICLE
Direct binding of RalA to PKCη and its crucial role in morphological change during keratinocyte differentiation Yasuhito Shiraia, Shoko Moriokaa, Megumi Sakumaa, Ken-ichi Yoshinoa, Chihiro Otsujia, Norio Sakaib, Kaori Kashiwagia, Kazuhiro Chidac, Ryutaro Shirakawad, Hisanori Horiuchid, Chikako Nishigorie, Takehiko Ueyamaa, and Naoaki Saitoa a
Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Biosignal Research Center, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan; Laboratory of Molecular and Pharmacological Neuroscience, Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan; cLaboratory of Cell Regulation, Applied Biochemistry, Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan; dDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan; eDivision of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan b
ABSTRACT During differentiation, keratinocytes undergo a dramatic shape change from small and round to large and flat, in addition to production of proteins necessary for the formation of epidermis. It has been shown that protein kinase C (PKC) η is crucial for keratinocyte differentiation. However, its role in this process has yet to be fully elucidated. Here, we show that catalytic activity is not necessary for enlarged and flattened morphology of human keratinocytes induced by overexpression of PKCη, although it is important for gene expression of the marker proteins. In addition, we identify the small G protein RalA as a binding partner of PKCη, which binds to the C1 domain, an indispensable region for the morphological change. The binding led activation of RalA and actin depolymerization associated with keratinocyte differentiation. siRNA techniques proved that RalA is involved in not only the keratinocyte differentiation induced by PKCη overexpression but also normal keratinocyte differentiation induced by calcium and cholesterol sulfate. These results provide a new insight into the molecular mechanism of cytoskeletal regulation leading to drastic change of cell shape.
Monitoring Editor Kozo Kaibuchi Nagoya University Received: Sep 6, 2010 Revised: Dec 28, 2010 Accepted: Feb 10, 2011
INTRODUCTION For unicellular organisms, cell shape change associated with movement, cell division, and mating is fundamental for survival. In multicellular organisms, cell shape varies considerably in response to difThis article was published online ahead of print in MBoC in Press (http://www .molbiolcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1091/mbc.E10-09-0754) on February 23, 2011. Address correspondence to: Yasuhito Shirai (
[email protected]) or Naoaki Saito (
[email protected]). Abbreviations used: C1, conserved region 1; CS, cholesterol sulfate; GAP, GTPase-activating protein; GDP, guanosine diphosphate; GEF, guanine nucleotide exchange factor; GFP, green fluorescent protein; GST, glutathione S-transferase; GTP, guanosine triphosphate; NHEK, normal human epidermal keratinocyte; PKC, protein kinase C; PLC, phospholipase C; PLD, phospholipase D; PS, pseudosubstrate region; RD, regulatory domain; SPR, small, proline rich; TGase 1, transglutaminase 1; V1, variable region 1. © 2011 Shirai et al. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0). “ASCB®,“ “The American Society for Cell Biology®,” and “Molecular Biology of the Cell®” are registered trademarks of The American Society of Cell Biology.
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ferent cues. For example, neurons develop long neurites in response to several factors and hormones, including nerve growth factor (Wiesmann and de Vos, 2001; Tojima and Ito, 2004; Arimura and Kaibuchi, 2008), and lymphocytes chemotax to chemokines (Stephens et al., 2008). In most cases, dynamic morphological changes are triggered by environmental signals and involve cytoskeletal reorganization mediated by the small-molecular-weight G proteins. It is well known that RhoA, Rac1, and cdc42 induce stress fibers, membrane ruffles, and filopodia, respectively (Narumiya, 1996; Takai et al., 2001). Although how cells generate and maintain their shape and size has been well studied, the precise molecular mechanisms leading to dramatic morphological changes are not fully understood. The terminal differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes involves drastic and dynamic morphological changes, making them a model cell for studying drastic cytoskeletal rearrangement. The epidermis consists of four layers: basal, spinous, granular, and cornified layers (Fuchs 1990; Koster and Roop, 2007). Once committed to differentiation, the basal cells lose their proliferative Molecular Biology of the Cell
potential and are differentiated toward cornified cells becoming larger and flatter. Keratinocytes differentiation involves not only these morphological changes but also a shift in protein expression (Fuchs, 1990; Koster and Roop, 2007). When the basal cells are differentiated to the spinous cells, keratin expression shifts from K5/K14 to K1/K10. Differentiation from spinous to granular is marked by expression of keratinocyte-specific transglutaminase 1 (TGase1), and its substrates, including involucrin, filaggrin, and small proline rich protein (SPR), are expressed. TGase1 covalently cross-links the substrates, resulting in forming the cornified layer. Together the morphological and biochemical changes produce the epidermis, an effective function as a barrier to external surroundings. Keratinocyte differentiation is partly regulated by protein kinase C (PKC), particularly the transition from spinous to granular cells (Denning, 2004; Dlugosz and Yaspa, 1994; Koster and Roop, 2007). Ten subtypes of PKC have been cloned and classified into three groups based on the structure of their regulatory domain (Nishizuka, 1992; Newton, 2006). Conventional PKCs (cPKC: α, βI, βII, and γ) have two common regions, diacylglycerol (DAG)-binding C1 domain and Ca2+-binding C2 domain, in the regulatory domain. Calcium, phosphatidylserine, and DAG are required for their activation. The novel PKCs (nPKC: δ, ε, η, and θ) are activated by DAG, but not by Ca2+, and atypical PKCs (aPKC: ι and ζ) are insensitive to both DAG and Ca2+. Of the 10 subtypes, keratinocytes express at least 5 PKC subtypes: α, δ, ε, η, and ζ (Denning, 2004). Of these, the role of PKCη in keratinocyte differentiation has been well studied (Osada et al., 1990, 1993; Ohba et al., 1998). Overexpression of PKCη induces the expression of TGase1 necessary for differentiation. Cholesterol sulfate (CS), an abundant lipid in the granular layer (Kagehara et al., 1994), specifically activates PKCη (Ikuta et al., 1994) and induces keratinocyte differentiation (Denning et al., 1995). However, the molecular mechanism by which this occurs is still unknown. Therefore we performed a series of experiments to determine the molecular mechanism of PKCη-induced keratinocyte differentiation. Here, we show that the kinase activity of PKCη is not necessary for the morphological change, although it is very important for gene expression of the marker proteins. The small-molecular-weight G protein RalA binds to the C1 domain of PKCη and contributes to the morphological change during keratinocyte differentiation induced by not only PKCη but also calcium and CS. This is the first report to show RalA binds to C1 domain of PKCη and that this interaction results in RalA activation and actin depolymerization, necessary for keratinocyte differentiation. These findings provide information critical to our understanding of the mechanism regulating cell morphology.
RESULTS PKCη is important for keratinocyte differentiation, but its kinase activity is not required for the morphological change To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the PKCηassociated keratinocyte differentiation, we first studied the effect of PKCη overexpression on cell height and area as morphological changes are a hallmark of it. Normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEK) expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP)-PKCη were flatter and more spread than cells expressing unconjugated GFP (Figure 1). Morphological changes were evident by 36 h and more pronounced by 48 h after adenoviral infection (Figure 1A). Before the infection with GFP-PKCη, the average diameter of NHEK was ∼48 μm; the diameter incresed to 69.3 and 83.2 μm at 36 and 48 h postinfection, respectively (Figure 1B). In contrast, NHEK cells expressing GFP alone were significantly less spread at both time points (55.9 and 64.1 μm at 36 and 48 h, respectively). To quantify enlargement, the number of the cells larger than 90 μm in diameter, Volume 22 April 15, 2011
which is almost twice as large as untreated cells, was counted and this percentage reported in Figure 1C. For cells expressing PKCη, the percentage of the enlarged cells was 15% at 36 h and 35% at 48 h, whereas that of the control cells was
